PRINCES William and Harry are to make an emotional return to the home they grew up in with their tragic mother Princess Diana.

They will honour her legacy by using her Kensington Palace apartment for charity events, turning it into “a house of joy again”.

Work has already begun on renovating the state rooms at Apartment 8 in readiness for their return in 2013.

Last night a royal spokesman confirmed that the princes will use Diana’s former home for entertaining and holding receptions for their own charities.

He said: “Neither of the princes wanted to move into their mother’s old apartment as a home but both see their futures at Kensington Palace.

“Apartment 8 is partly being turned into offices and the state rooms will be used by both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.”

In a separate development, the Sunday Express has been told exclusively that Harry has earmarked his own apartment at the palace most closely associated with his mother when he marries and starts a family.

Last night a royal spokesman confirmed that the princes will use Diana’s former home for entertaining and holding receptions for their own charities

Last month, Clarence House revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will move into Princess Margaret’s former home at apartment 1A.

In the meantime they will live at Nottingham Cottage, a cosy one-bedroom property with ceilings so low William is required to “stoop”.

Harry is due to move into the cottage once his brother has moved into 1A – probably in 2013 – but a spokesman said he has set his sights on grander accommodation at Kensington Palace when he needs a home suitable for a family.

He refused to reveal which apartment Harry wants but confirmed that it is currently occupied. At present the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester reside at apartment 1, next to 1A, while Prince and Princess Michael of Kent live at apartment 10, which includes access to Diana’s cherished walled garden.

Wren House, a separate and extremely lavish building currently home to the Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, could also be a possibility along with apartments 4A and AB, which are currently used by senior aides.

The princes have made no secret of their desire to keep their mother’s memory alive and their decision to make use of her former home shows their determination to continue her charitable legacy.

Diana’s apartments 8 and 9 were stripped bare and lay vacant for 10 years after her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

They were then split back into two apartments, with 8 being used by four of Charles’s charities and 9 becoming home to the Chief of Defence Staff. Aides say that the princes’ move to the Palace is a “natural evolution” and a sign of their growing independence from Prince Charles’s office at Clarence House.

William and Harry remain committed to their military careers, but they and Kate will carry out more royal engagements than ever next year for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.

Harry will embark on his first overseas tour representing the Queen in the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will go on their second tour as a married couple, visiting Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and the tiny Polynesian island of Tuvalu.

Their charitable commitments will increase as they take on a more prominent role in the Royal Family. Kate is currently researching which charities to support, having become patron of the foundation set up by William and Harry in 2009.

Both princes have also continued to champion their mother’s causes, from Aids awareness to campaigning against landmines. William replaced her as the patron of Centrepoint, the homelessness charity, in 2005 and as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital in 2007.

Harry has set up his own charity in her memory called Sentebale, or “Forget Me Not”, which helps Aids orphans in Lesotho in Africa.